Losing my Voice
by AlienfromNorth
Summary: Harper Bellrose was the responsible twin. She took care of everything and never asked for anything in return. But when she loses the very things that she love in mysterious circumstances, she isn't even sure what her purpose of life is anymore. As a girl that has always been in the shadows of everyone else, now she has to stand in the spotlight and be brave.
1. Why my Family

**A/N: I never thought I would write this, be alas here I am. I have one more story that I will publish soon. Then I will go rounds over the stories I haven't updated and update them. This story will be a bit different, so I hope you like it!**

 **Be warned! This is rated M for a reason, not because of romance and smut. But because of the plot that is up ahead.**

 **Chapter 1 - Why my family**

 **~X~**

Harper Bellrose had a headache. Something felt wrong, something bad was about to happen. She was curled up in her bed, trying to focus on her book, but it was impossible. The music echoed throughout the house, it was so loud that she wondered how the people downstairs would be able to hear each other. To her it wasn't even music, just bleeps and bloops that formed a pulse that you could jump around to. It was her sister's kind of music.

Henry, or her real name Henrietta, was the wild twin. She had it all planned out this evening, as her mother would go away for the weekend to visit grandma, she would be having the sickest party in Mystic Falls. Everyone was invited of course. But she didn't really care about who came and who didn't, because she was the most popular girl in school and _everyone_ came to Henry Bellrose's parties.

Harper often wondered where she got the money from, since they don't have a lot of money to begin with. Where did the alcohol come from? Where did the food come from. She never knew, and some part of her doesn't want to know.

Their home was a house that had gone through generations of Bellrose's. They were one of the founding families. But along the way up to now, the flow of money dried up, leaving them close to the poverty line.

Harper and Henry had never met their father, he had left town when their mother said the word pregnant. It didn't help that their mother thought she was a psychic, and her only base of income was her fortune tellings and palm readings that she would do in their living room. The same living room that was in the process of being totally destroyed by Henry's party.

Suddenly the back door was opened and slammed, Harper looked out of her window to see her sister almost run into the forest behind their house. This made her of course worried. Why would her sister leave her own party? After all, she was the sun that the party goers (planets) revolved around. So she decided that, while still in her star wars pyjamas, follow her and make sure she wasn't hurt.

The woods were dark and so confusing to her. She followed the cries of her sister, who had on her way taken of her shoes and jewelry. But Harper let them be, they could pick everything up on their way back.

And then the cries stopped, and Harper got worried. She ran as fast as she could to catch up, but suddenly her sister wasn't in front of her anymore. Harper looked around, terrified of the situation.

"Henry!" She shouted, trying to focus on the sounds around her. They weren't that far from the house, she could still hear the 'music'. So odd would it be that she couldn't hear her sister, it wasn't like she could teleport or run as fast as the speed of light.

"HENRY!" Harper shouted once more, now walking further into the forest in desperation. Her twin couldn't just disappear like this. She ran as fast as she could straight forward, not caring about the burning sensation in her lungs.

"H-Henry!" Harper stopped and realised that she was lost as well. Without a phone. In a dark forest. And no sister is sight.

"Henry please, where are you?!" Harper was scared. She just wanted to help, she just wanted to bring her sister home again.

"Harper?" A voice, almost like a grunted whisper came from her right. Harper recognised the voice and ran towards it.

"Henry" Harper's eyes were wide. She suddenly lost the ability to breathe, she couldn't understand this.

Henry was on the forest floor, bleeding out from a wound on her neck. She was as pale as a sheet of paper and her eyes were red from crying.

"Why… Who.. wh-" Harper was getting nauseous from the smell of her twins blod.

"I… I'm.. I" Henry tried to speak but she couldn't, she was bleeding out. Harper snapped out of her shock and realised that her sister had her phone in her hand, screen unlocked and ready to be used.

Harper took the phone out of her sister's cold hand and pressed 911 on the dial. But realised that while she tried to function as a human being, her sister stopped.

"This is 911, please state your emergency"


	2. Grey Clouds, Silver Lining

**A/N: A few chapters will be short, but I hope it will be alright. Also, thank you all for the reviews and follows and favourites. I wished that I could hug you for making my days so much better!**

 **Chapter 2 - Grey Clouds, Silver Lining**

 **~X~**

Seeing a coffin being sunken into the ground is in many ways unreal. You can't really grasp the thought that a loved one is in there. Because it wasn't long ago that the person inside stood by your side. It had been a very hot summer day when the funeral was to be held, almost everyone in town showed up. To pay the respect of a girl who died way too early.

"I'm sorry for you loss" Elena Gilbert of all people, had hugged her and mourned for her. Even though Harper had never talked to the girl before, which was in large due to the whole 'different cliques' thing. But she knew that Elena had lost her parents two months back, so if anyone could understand, it was her. Several others had come up to her as well, many of them she didn't know. Only that they went to the same school.

She was standing with the mayor and his family, as he had chosen to be the good samaritan to take the poor girl in under his wings. Everyone was wearing black, and grieved as Henry was being buried. Harper couldn't cry. She would do it in any other circumstance, but those who weren't watching the casket was watching her. And that made her tense up so much that nothing would come out of her. No words… and no tears.

"It is okay sweetie, everything will be alright" The mayor's wife, Carol, was standing by her and was hugging her sideways. Harper knew for a fact that Carol had never a close friend with her mother, as she had stated when she had asked why they had taken her in.

"I hope so" Harper said, as a treacherous tear fell down her cold cheek.

 **~X~**

Later that same evening, after the wake had been held at the Lockwood manor. Harper was sitting on her new perfectly made bed thinking, her pale hands gripping her black dress tightly. The bed was so soft that she almost didn't want to sleep on it. It was like sleeping on a cloud, and she had never slept on anything like that before. It felt wrong somehow, like with each second that passed the bed screamed to get this filthy low life human off it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Harper often thought back to one simple moment as one of her favourite in life. It had been a Friday afternoon and the family was on their way home from a restaurant in town. The warm sun was filling the car with light, and somehow Henry had succeeded to fall asleep during their short tip. She was sitting in the backseat, her legs stretched out and she was lightly snoring. At the time, Henry had decided that pink hair was cool and she had begged her mother to buy the color at the store. Even though they didn't have any money.

Their mother let them do whatever they wanted, so dyeing your hair was a pretty mild thing compared to the rest. Harper had rarely used the power of a mother that didn't care about anything, since she was way too stressed about that months bills and school. But in that car, everything seemed to just float away.

No bills, no school. Just their family on their way home. And this moment was her favourite, because as she seemingly was in her own mind and relaxing for the first time that week, her mother reached out and grabbed her hand. It was a weird way of holding it, more like squishing it tightly. Harper looked at her mother in question, she had just said,'I love you' and then let go. That memory washed away quickly as she snapped back into reality.

The one person that missed the funeral was their mother. She hadn't come back from their grandmother's, and she wasn't answering her phone. When the police got a hold of their grandmother a day after Henry was officially pronounced dead at the hospital, she stated that her daughter wasn't at her place, nor had she called to say that she would be going to see her at all. Harper lost two people in the course of a week. And as she filed a missing person's report, she had gotten a panic attack as all the things that had happened to her had sunken in.

Social services had a hard time with her case, since in any other situation would Harper be placed into foster care. Her grandmother was in a nursing home in Maine where she had lived with their grandfather. So she was out of the question, even though she wanted nothing more than to become the guardian of Harper.

Instead the mayor of the town decided to take her in, which was a move no one suspected at all. Harper had gone from being close to the poverty line, to moving in with the richest family in her town. It had been awkward to say the least, Tyler Lockwood had never spared her a glance before and now Harper lived in the room across from his.

"Honey? I have some tea for you" Carol Lockwood knocked on the clean, white door to her room and walked in. Seeing Harper in a state of distress somehow hurt the older woman. She may not have known the Sunny Bellrose, Harper's mother, but she knew the rumours that surrounded her.

Rumours of not taking care, almost neglecting, her children and owning a psychic shop as the only ways of income. Henry was the girl who were supposed to be in the miss Mystic Falls pageant this year, not because of the fun of the competition nor because of the title. But because of the money. Carol had gone through Harper's file as they talked to the social services, and no one her age should have been going through what she did. The social worker had stated that Harper had the mind of a 30 year old single mother, and not a teenager in high school.

"Thank you" Harper's voice was quiet and calm, but the girl with the dark hair kept looking down at the cup and didn't drink it.

"Is there something wrong?" Carol asked as she sat down next to Harper. It was a stupid question, because a lot of things were wrong. Harper had witnessed her sister's death and lost everything important to her.

"I don't drink tea… sorry" Harper mumbled and looked at Carol. The older woman sighed at the blood shot eyes of the teenager, and she realised that she was still in the modest, black dress that she had given her for the funeral.

"It's alright, I should've asked before I made it" Carol said and took the cup out of Harper's hands. As they sat there, Carol studied the girl a bit closer. She was very beautiful, at least according to her. Harper had dark hair, almost black, that was short and cut in a page. She had brown eyes and she was short compared to girls her age.

"Things will get better, the house is still in your name and all the stuff in it belongs to you. We will pay the bills of maintaining it until you decide what you want to do with it.. We can go tomorrow and get some of your things for your new room, if that's okay with you" Carol added as she stood up from the bed. Harper just nodded and tried to smile, but it was hard.

"Try to get some sleep" Carol said as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Across the hall she saw Tyler in his room, doing weightlifting like today's events never happened.

"Are you okay?" She asked her son, who just turned to look at her.

"Sure I am mom, taking in strays from the streets is such a cute gesture. I can't wait until she realises how messed up this family is" He grunted and rolled his eyes.

"You will be nice to her! She has been through hell" Carol hissed and pointed at him, meaning that he will get in serious trouble if he tries anything.

"Whatever" He stated and walked towards his door, and slammed it in his mother's face. Carol couldn't understand what his newfound rage was coming from. When he was younger he used to behave and be kind towards everyone, but not anymore.


	3. Highway to Hell

**A/N: So I hope that you guys like this, I have so many things planned for this series and I really want to write as much as I can with the schedule that I have.**

 **Chapter 3 -** **Highway to hell**

 **~X~**

Being brave was not something that Harper was used to being called. But as summer progressed, each time someone came up to talk to her. All they would say, over and over, was how brave she was. She didn't feel brave for trying to find her sister. She didn't feel brave as her twin died on the forest floor behind their house.

Since she had always been the shy, nerdy one of the two. Being self-conscious about herself was a given. But now she couldn't look herself in the mirror. She had hung towels or sheets over the mirrors in her new room and bathroom. Because every time she looked herself in the eye, she saw Henry. They were identical twins, sharing so many similarities that it was a wonder that anyone could have told them apart. Of course with Henry's pink hair and radiating personality it was easy, but when they were little it was next to impossible.

Seeing Henry in the mirror was like a punch in the stomach. Every, single, time. Carol had tried to take the sheets off, but it was all in vain. Harper would just put them back up.

"Hey! Are you awake?" Tyler banged on her bedroom door. It was the first day back to school and Harper was anxious. Dressed head to toe in her new clothes that Carol had bought for her. She smiled when she remembered the comments that she had gotten from her guardian, not bad ones, just stuff like 'Isn't that a bit too bohemian?' or 'Do you really want to look like a hippie'. With a brown mocha skirt and a white shirt that was oversized, paired up with her old converse and her usual beaded necklaces and bracelets. Her dark hair was just combed through, and her face was make up free. Harper often wanted to learn how to use make up, Henry had helped her a lot of times, but now she just didn't have the energy to do it herself.

"Yes" Harper said as she opened her door.. He rolled his eyes and walked away down the stairs. The rest of the summer had been very bleak to him, noone wanted to host a party after Henry's passing. He hoped that now that school started, that would change.

"Oh kids! Have you eaten anything?" Carol shouted from the kitchen, she had prepared a full breakfast buffé by the looks of it and wanted to eat together with her son and foster child.

"I'm not hungry" Harper said and looked at Tyler, her eyes pleading for him not to say that he was hungry.

"We will grab something on the way to school mom, don't worry" Tyler smiled and kissed his mother's cheek before walking out the door. Carol sighed and looked at Harper before smiling too and hugged her tightly.

"Have a good first day" She said and let the teenage girl go. She had always wanted a daughter, this may not be the most ideal way of getting one. But Harper had become so precious to her in such a short amount of time, that she wanted to protect and cherish her.

"Thanks" Harper said and waved goodbye as she walked down the stairs towards Tyler and his car.

The ride to the nearest gas station was quiet as usual, Tyler had gotten used to a quiet car but it also started to drive him a bit crazy. Harper just would put in the effort to at least talk to his.

"Screw this" He muttered as he put on the radio, immediately Elvis Presley came on. Can't help but falling in love played on the channel for throwback music.

"Come on" He reached for the stereo again, but Harper stopped him and looked at him.

"Can we please listen to this one.. just this one song" She asked, almost pleaded. Tyler looked at her for a mere second, before turning back to the road. It wasn't that bad after all.

"Take my hand hand… take my whole life too" Harper started to sing softly, it was so low that he barely heard her. It was almost like a mumble. Her voice was raspy and sweet, not the best singing he ever heard, but it was good enough that he didn't laugh or stopped her.

And as the song ended, they arrived at the 7 eleven.


	4. Ashes, Ashes, We all fall Down

**A/N: Now we are at episode 1 of season 1, the little prologue chapters was kind of the background for Harper. What did you think about the previous chapters? What do you want to see in the ones that are to come. Please review!**

 **Chapter 4 - Ashes, Ashes, We all fall Down**

 **~X~**

The school was exactly the same as before the summer. Every student was the same, every teacher too. And once again, Harper Bellrose entered the shadows. It was comfortable there, no one really noticed you or bothered you. You were nobody, and that was exactly what Harper wanted to be.

She walked around the school with ease, looking down into her marvel comic book. She was headed towards her locker when she collided with someone.

"S-sorry" She mumbled as she bent down to pick up her comic that she had dropped. But she didn't get the chance to do that though, as the guy that she bumped into was much faster and reached for it himself. Which resulted in their heads colliding.

"Ouch.. damn we are really clumsy" Harper looked up to see none other than Matt Donovan in front of her. Rubbing his forehead with a sour face.

"I'm so sorry" Harper panicked and stood up quickly, she turned around in embarrassment and walked away. Leaving Matt by himself, with her comic still in his hands.

"Hey! You forgot this!" He shouted, but he had lost track of Harper in the hallway. He sighed and looked down at the comic. She probably wanted this back.

"Yo Donovan! What's up man" Tyler Lockwood approached him, wearing his usual crooked smile. When his friend was unresponsive he waved a hand in front of his face, making Matt snapp out of his thoughts.

"Oh hi.. man I am so tired" Matt muttered and looked at Tyler, who noticed the comic in his hands.

"Since when do you read comics? That's very… nerdy" Tyler commented and raised an eyebrow. Matt hadn't read comic since they were little, so it was very odd to see him holding one now.

"Nah, it's not mine" Matt sighed as he started to walk towards his locker.

"So whos is it then?" Tyler asked, following his friend.

"Harper Bellrose's.. she dropped it and I didn't get the chance of returning it" Matt stated as he opened his locker to get his books. Meanwhile, Tyler thought back to about one hour earlier when he and Harper had been at the gas station to get something to eat. He hadn't even realised that she had bought the comic.

"Give it to me, I can give it to her.. since you know.. I live with her" He suggested and rolled his eyes to show his annoyance. He wasn't annoyed by Harper. She minded her own business and kept to herself, so he hadn't even had a good chance of getting to know her over the summer.

"That must be weird" Matt said and handed the comic over to Tyler, who stuffed it into his backpack.

"It totally is.. you know her mom hasn't shown up anywhere. the police can't find her" Tyler said and looked around the hallway, trying to put up a front of disinterest.

"Freaky as hell, I feel bad for her" Matt knew exactly what it was like, hell he wasn't even sure if his mom was where she said she was. He was fending for himself together with Vicki, so at least he had some family. Harper had no one but the Lockwoods.

"Yeah" Tyler agreed and studied his friend. Matt was staring across the hall at someone. And that someone was none other than Elena Gilbert.

"Elena Gilbert, man get over her.. she clearly has" Tyler said as Elena gave Matt a small wave. Which he ignored and looked at Tyler.

"I am over her man" But clearly he was lying.

 **~X~**

Harper had worked at the Grill for ages. She had been the perfect employe, she even picked up extra shifts now and then. Of course this changed during summer, but she hadn't quit the job completely. Even though she didn't need it. The night of the first day back to school was also her first shift back at the restaurant.

"Hey Vicki" Harper said as she tied her apron around her waist. Vicki was the closest thing to a friend that Harper ever had. She wasn't in to drugs like Vicki, but as they had worked together for so long a sort of relationship grew.

"Harper.. god I've missed you" Vicki said and hugged Harper close. Vicki hadn't been to the funeral, which was strange since she had been at Henry's party. But Harper guessed it was the grief of Henry that was too much, and Vicki just didn't want to show it in public.

"I missed you too" Harper said, and hugged her back.

"Is it true that you are living with Tyler Lockwood?" Vicki asked as they walked out to the restaurant area, the place was already crowded.

"His parents took me in after the whole thing, it's weird and complicated" Harper sighed and went behind the bar to serve the people sitting by it. She wasn't even of age, but the owner didn't care. And the customers didn't either.

"Yeah I mean.. it's Tyler Lockwood! I would totally freak if I lived at his house" Vicki stated as she waited for the first rounds of food to be ready to be served. They worked the night shift, so the two girls that was before them just handed their notepads and orders onto them.

"It's not that bad, I finally have hot water and food three times a day" Harper snorted and looked at Vicki, who laughed and looked at her notepad once more.

"You know what I mean! Harper-" Vicki was cut of by the chef in the kitchen, who also happened to be the owner. He glared at Vicki and handed her the food that was going to table 5.

"Get back to work" He grunted. The girls shared a look and continued with their work. Throughout the night, Jeremy Gilbert tried to talk to Vicki and it was pretty painful to watch since she clearly had no interest in him. Harper was stuck in the bar the whole night, but from the corner of her eye she saw Tyler sitting together with Matt Donovan and weirdly enough it made her fuzzy inside.

 **~X~**

"You guys are home late" Mr. Lockwood sat in the living room with his wife. Drink in hand, even though it was a Monday.

"Sorry dad, the grill was packed tonight so Harper got some extra hours in" Tyler said before Harper was able to say anything. She looked at him in question but he ignored her.

"I really wished that you would stop working there, you don't need to" Carol sighed into her cup of tea and looked up at Harper. She was way to good for that place, according to Carol. She needed to do some extracurricular activities instead and start thinking about the future. Not living day by day as she used to.

"I-I want t-too, I like the small independent things" Harper said, her voice soft as she switched her gaze between Richard and Carol. She understood the gratitude that she felt towards them, if they hadn't taken her in she would have fallen into the system and ended up where the government thought would be best. She now lived a privileged life, all thanks to them.

"But working there with that Donovan girl.. honestly I have no idea how she and Matt are related" Carol said and shook her head, she and Richard were on the same place on that one. Vicki Donovan was not a good girl, she did things that Harper should be kept away from at all costs.

"Maybe they aren't" Richard chuckled and took another sip of his whiskey. This made Tyler mad, to him, his parents had no right to say such things about Vicki and Matt. They weren't people to look down upon.

"Dad!" Tyler protested, and Harper already knew what was coming. She had seen it before, and it wasn't pretty at all.

"Don't speak to me in that tone" Richard Lockwood stood up from his seat and pointed with his whole hand towards Tyler. Harper wanted them both to stop, but was way too scared to do anything.

"I can use whatever tone I want, don't speak that way about my friends" Tyler argued, but as he said them. A slap could be heard. It wasn't the first time, and would probably not be the last. But Richard had slapped Tyler across the face and now his left side of his face was an ugly shade of red.

"Now you two listen here, under my roof, I can say what I want as I am the man of the house, I tell everybody else what to do. You will stop using that tone against me and you, Harper, will quit your work at the grill" Richard said and sat back down to a very tense looking Carol. She was no longer holding her tea and she looked as if she was about to cry, but couldn't.

"Go to your rooms, it is not up for discussion" Richard added, waving his hand in dismissal. Harper ran up the stairs, not caring about what Carol might say tomorrow about it. Tyler was right behind her, he didn't look sad about what happened, he was furious.

"Welcome to the family" He grunted towards Harper, before slamming his bedroom door, leaving her alone.


	5. The call of Youth

**A/N: I'm on a roll! I feel super happy about writing again and I can't stop. Please R &R!**

 **Chapter 5 - The call of Youth**

 **~X~**

"The battle of willow creek, took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls" Tanner was going on and on about the war again. He was a very arrogant man that saw himself as a superior to others because he had a degree. He probably thought that he belonged at college were people actually wanted to learn and not a small town high school.

Harper had a hard time in school. She was a good student and tried her best, but somehow she never got that sweet A grade. And while Tanner was talking about the war, Harper was only half-listening. She was way too busy trying to scribble all of the information down in her notebook.

"How many casualties resulted in this battle" _Like anyone in here would know_ , Harper thought as she waited for Tanner to answer himself. Some students looked around the room, and as Harper had predicted, no one seemed eager to answer.

"Miss Bennett?"

"Umm.. a lot, I'm not sure.. Like a whole lot" Bonnie said, hoping that Tanner had suddenly obtained the ability to get a joke.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant Miss Bennett" Tanner stated and remained a stoic face, as he switched his gaze towards someone else.

"Mr. Donovan! would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" Tanner grinned from ear to ear. Matt was a star player on his team, and he wished every time he asked one of his players, that surely today was the day they had started to study for real.

"It's okay Mr. Tanner, I'm cool" Matt smirked. But surprise, surprise, he didn't get any flame like Bonnie had gotten. Favouritism? no.

"Elena, surely you can enlighten us about one of the town most significant historical events" He asked and looked at the girl who sat in front of Harper. If anyone would know, it was Elena. After all, she came from one of the founding families.

"I'm sorry, I don't know" Elna sighed.

"I was willing to be light on you for obvious reasons last year Elena, but those personal excuses ended during summer break" Harper's eye widened. Not by the super mean remark he just said towards a student. But that there was a possibility of being pardoned from Tanner's assignments and questions.

"Last chance Miss Bellrose, founding family and all" Tanner looked straight into Harper's soul. Knowing full well that she didn't know the anwser. He knew that she wrote everything of value down each class, and since he had never mentioned this battle before today, it was next to impossible for her to know about this battle. He just wanted to use her as a springboard to launch an attack on the class for not knowing the importance of the civil war era of history.

"346 casualties, unless you are counting local civilians" The new guy answered and Harper was quick to write it down.

"That's correct, Mr?" _New favorite student? Of course._ Harper thought and it made her stomach turn. She had tried so hard to be the best, but she was never able to catch a break with the glorious Mr. Tanner.

"Salvatore" The new guy said, but the way he said it sounded almost unsure. Like he wasn't sure if he would use that name or make up another.

"Any relation to the original selleters here?" Tanner asked with a big, stupid grin on his face.

"Distant" Once again did the new guy sound unsure about the information he was giving to Tanner.

"Very good, but of course there were no civilian casualties in this battle" Tanner stated and walked back towards his desk, totally dismissing the new guy.

"Umm actually there were.. 27 people died when confederate soldier fired at the church, believing in to be housing weapons, they were wrong. It was a night of great loss" The whole classroom was silent as the new guy talked. "The founder's archive is stored in civil hall if you want to brush up on your facts"

Sure it was a brave display towards Mr. Tanner. But Harper just rolled her eyes at the gesture, he poked the bear. Now the rest of class would be hell.

 **~X~**

Later the same evening, Harper was sitting on her fluffy cloud bed making flash cards for her science class when Tyler walked in. Not only did he not knock, but it didn't help that Harper was only wearing her old pair of ugly purple sweatpants and her unicorn tank top. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she wore her reading classes, which made her look at least 90 years older.

"Do you want a ride to the party?" Tyler asked, but also chuckled as he got a proper view of what she was wearing.

"There is party tonight?" Harper asked and looked up from her books and notes. It was so embarrassing for her to be seen like that, but since she legally was his foster sister, she would be forced to get used to his 'no knocking before walking in' attitude.

"Yeah, a bonfire.. you didn't know?" Tyler asked, but realised that Harper was not anywhere near his social circles. So of course she didn't know.

"No" Harper muttered and looked down onto her books about the human digestive system. She felt like a loser.

"Well there is.. so do you need a ride or are your friends picking you up?" Tyler asked. Harper looked at him with a raised eyebrow, why would she need a ride? She wasn't even invited.

"I don't have any friends" She stated and looked him in the eye. She just wanted him to leave now so that she could continue her work.

"Fine.. get dressed because you are coming with me" Tyler stated and walked out of her room. Harper practically leapt out of her bed to follow him.

"What?" She asked as she grabbed his arm to stop him from going into his bedroom.

"You need to make some friends" He said. And one hour later they were in the middle of the woods and at the bonfire party. Now Harper had never been to a party before, and since Tyler had made her change three times before he was satisfied enough by her outfit and deemed it 'party worthy', she felt ten times more nervous. She was wearing a cute maroon colored top with a brown leather jacket, a black skirt and heels. Yep, heels in the middle of the forest. Tyler did not think about the practical part.

"Are you drinking? B-but you are our ride" Harper's eyes widened as Tyler accepted a red plastic cup filled with whatever the host was serving.

"Okay then you drive" Tyler stated as he chugged the cup, meanwhile Harper was contemplate whether or not it would be worth it to just take his car keys and go home right now.

"Are you sure?" Harper asked. Not about the driving. But more so about her staying as long as him, probably most of the time by his side, to make sure that they went home together.

"Yes, unless you also want to drink" Tyler scoffed and waved his empty cup in her face. He knew that Harper didn't drink. She had never done it and wouldn't start now at a bonfire party.

"No thanks" Harper muttered and looked around the party. Suddenly her eyes landed on the new guy, Stefan Salvatore. He was literally eye candy, like the definition of it.

"So you like the new guy" Tyler observed and Harper quickly snapped out of her daze. She didn't even notice that she had gotten into one.

"No.." She said, but her voice sounded as weak as her denial over her actions and feelings.

"You are blushing" Tyler stated and scoffed as Harper showed signs of teenage girl crush. He knew exactly what kind of guy Stefan Salvatore was, even though he did not know him. The new guy would play the 'I am so mysterious and unknown' card until he would settle into the 'popular but not popular because I am edgy' situation that would eventually happen. And Tyler was surprised by the protectiveness he felt towards Harper but he didn't want her to get caught up in Stefan's act.

"It's the fire" Harper said, but clearly it was not the fire. Her face was as red as a tomato.

"If you say so.. but just a heads up, Elena Gilbert already have her talons into him. Don't do anything stupid" Tyler pointed over to the two lovebirds and he saw Harper's shoulders sag in defeat.

"I won't" She stated and smiled. But Tyler knew it was fake. The night was pretty boring to Harper after Tyler had gone passed his sixth cup, she didn't know anybody and she felt like an alien. Studying human behaviour to try and fit in. But she was failing. She was sitting on a log bench, nursing a red bull that a girl from the cheerleading squad had given her out of pity. The girl hadn't stuck around to talk though, but it was clear that she had been a friend of Henry's.

"Hi Harper" A voice came up behind her, scaring her so much that she jumped up from her seat. Only to see the cutest guy in school smirking back at her, nearly laughing at her reaction of him saying hi to her.

"Hello Matt" Harper said and looked around for Tyler, but she couldn't find him.

"I didn't mean to scare you" Matt chuckeled and took another sip of his own cup. He was upset about something, but Harper couldn't place it at all.

"You didn't.." She tried to come up with something to cover up her jumpy behaviour, but she couldn't. For a split second there was an awkward silence, both of them just looking at each other, not really knowing what to say or do.

"So.. did Tyler give your comic back to you" Matt asked. He had originally wanted to give it back to her himself, since he wanted to talk to her without her running away. But this seemed to do just fine.

"My comic- Oh! Yes he did, thank you for picking it up" Harper said and tried to calm down. Her palms were sweaty and her mind were racing in a thousand miles per hour. She had no idea of what to do to make this ice between them break. She wasn't a girl that had the social part naturally, so she had a constant feeling of a small dose of social anxiety.

"No problem, you seemed to be in a hurry" Matt said and smiled. Harper couldn't help but smile as well, but also kept looking at the most fascinating spot on her heels. They were slowly killing her as she stood there in front of the jock.

"I don't usually talk to boys.. imagine running into one and then bumping heads" She mumbled, hoping that he would be able to hear her.

"I guess I look scary then-" Matt teased, not realising that Harper had a hard time seeing the difference between teasing and a normal statement.

"You don't! I mean- You look great-" Harper stammered and once again her face felt all hot and her brain all mushy. It isn't easy being a teenage girl.

"Harper I was teasing you" Matt said, trying to calm her down. To him, Harper acted super cute. Meanwhile Harper was having a total meltdown.

"Oh.." Harper said and took a deep breath. "You don't make this easy"

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, raising his eyebrow while studying her face. Harper was a small curvy girl, her face was innocent and clear of make up. She had round cheeks and big brown eyes, she had freckles, some pimples on her forehead and her lips were the most beautiful when she smiled.

"I feel like a jumbled mess whenever I open my mouth" She sighed and hugged herself. It was getting kind of chilly, even with the fire so close to them.

"But that's good" Matt argued and took a step closer to her. Harper's eye widened and looked up at him.

"How is that good?" She asked, her heart was beating so hard against her ribcage that it felt like it was going to burst. Matt Donovan, a jock on the football team, ex boyfriend of queen Elena Gilbert, was getting closer to her and flirting with her.

"Because-" He said, but stopped and looked over Harper's shoulder, "Vicki?" Harper turned around to see a bunch of people gather around Jeremy Gilbert as he carried her out of the woods.

"Vicki!" Matt ran towards his sister.

"Oh my-" Harper felt sick to her stomach as everyone rushed to see what was going on. But Harper had been through this before, she knew what happend to girls that left the woods like Vicki did.

"Give her some room! Hey, back off!" Tyler roared and helped Matt and the rest of the gang to keep Vicki stable. Meanwhile Harper was walking away from the scene. In her mind, Vicki was Henry. This was happening all over again, dejavu at its finest.

"Someone call 911" Was the last thing Harper heard from the party before she grabbed the first bottle of amber liquid that she could find and ran away from the scene.

 **~X~**

Harper was walking down the road that led to the Wickery Bridge. Correction, Harper was stumbling down the road that led to the Wickery Bridge. It was really late, she could tell by the small amount of alcohol that was left in the bottle. At first she had hated the taste, she wanted to throw up as soon as it hit her tastebuds, but then she stopped caring and all of the sudden the taste wasn't a problem anymore. With her heels in one hand and the bottle in the other, Harper had decided that she was going for a swim. She would jump of the bridge and hopefully swim to the shore. But her plans seemed to fail as a very familiar car drove up beside her.

"There you are! I have been looking around like crazy" Tyler looked furious, but his voice lacked poison.

"You shouldn't drink and drive" Harper stated and looked at her foster brother. That's when he knew that something was very wrong with her.

"Harper, get in the car" He said as he drove slowly by her side. Harper shook her head and just looked straight ahead.

"No"

"Harper! Get in the car" Tyler shouted at her, making her look at him again. He could see her tear streaked cheeks and red irritated eyes. She was broken.

"I don't want to"

"Are you drunk?" Tyler asked, finally spotting the bottle in her hand. It was a cheap brand of whiskey that someone must've taken with them to the party. It was the kind that tasted awful but did its job quickly.

"No"

"Harper Bellrose, the very definition of a wallflower. The girl who doesn't drink, is drunk and walking down the road without her shoes on" Tyler stated, and this made him laugh. Not just chuckle, but really laugh hard. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Stop laughing!" Harper screamed, and Tyler stopped. He knew that he was being a dick right now. She didn't deserve that kind of judgement from him. Not after Henry's passing and this nights events.

"I'm sorry.. but could you at least stop" Tyler said and looked at her with pitiful eyes. She hated that look but stopped anyways. She guessed that she would have to take a raincheck on the dip in the river.

"Good, now get your gorgeous drunk ass into the car so that we can get home" Tyler opened the door to her and helped her inside the vehicle. She was like a ragdoll, cradling the shoes and the bottle in her arms.

"I'm hungry" She stated when Tyler made a U-turn back into town. Tyler chuckled when he realised that Harper was whiny when she was drunk. Damn, he had hoped that she was the singing type.

"Okay food, then home" Tyler said, he himself also craved a lot of cheeseburgers.

"I want fries.. soo much fries" Harper said and looked at him with pleading eyes. Tyler realised that he was hooked and that during the summer she had become much more than a stranger. A bond had taken its form, only time would tell what kind of bond that would be.

"Sounds good to me"


	6. Tell your Children

**A/N: Thank you all so much for giving this story a chance, I hope you will like where the story is heading.**

 **Please R &R!**

 **Chapter 6 - Tell your Children**

 **~X~**

Monday after the big party weekend wasn't as normal to wake up as Harper thought it would be. Something had changed that night, and she had no idea of what to do about it. She had made her first ever friend, at least she thought they were at friend level, with Tyler Lockwood. Sure the point of being together almost 24 hours every single day made it almost impossible not to get to know each other.

"Good morning darling" Carol Lockwood was in the kitchen with a smorgasbord of breakfast food ready to be shared with the teenagers.

"Hi Carol" Harper said and smiled, she reached for some strawberries and a sandwich. Tyler shouldn't be forced to buy her breakfast every morning just because she didn't want to bump into Richard. That man scared her for obvious reasons.

"Oh Tyler, sit down and eat you too" Carol waved towards her son when she spotted him hurrying down the stairs. Tyler looked at Harper with a raised eyebrow, this wasn't what they would usually do. For a week they had started their own tradition, and she was already breaking it.

"It's good.. and free" Harper mumbled, her mouth full of nutella dipped strawberries. Tyler sighed and sat down at the table across from Harper, giving him the opportunity to glare at her while they ate.

"So Harper, how's school going?" Carol asked, Harper's teacher-parent conference was today and she would be speaking to all of her teachers. She herself had planned it since she needed more information on her foster daughter, this of course without telling Harper in the first place.

"Good" Harper said and looked down at her food, instead of meeting Carol's gaze. She didn't want to tell her about the struggles that she had, she didn't want to be more of a burden than what she already appeared to be.

"Okay, great.. Tyler how's football?" She never asked him about school, his grades didn't seem to matter at all.

"Mom cut it out, whatever you are planning just say it already and don't walk around it" Tyler snapped and glared at his mother. Harper felt immensely uncomfortable when he raised his voice, but Tyler couldn't help it. Sometimes he just snapped and got angry for no apparent reason.

"Harper let's go" He stated and walked away from the table.

"I'm sorry" Harper said and hurried after him. Leaving a very sad Carol alone in the kitchen. Harper tired to be as fast as she could when she ran towards Tyler's car. The car ride to school was silent. Harper didn't say anything, in fear of provoking Tyler more. Even though she wanted to yell at him from being mean to Carol, she totally understood why he acted like he did.

Carol watched, but never did anything to help or change the situation. No matter how angry her husband got, no matter how far he took the smallest disagreements, she didn't move a muscle to better the situation for them. She smiled and waved as the mayor's wife, but her facade was so fake that Harper often wondered how it could be so waterproof.

"They suck" Harper said and looked at Tyler, and finally he relaxed his shoulders and chuckled.

"Yeah, they suck"

 **~X~**

Another Tanner lesson and Harper had been going crazy about 2 minutes in. The class was nearly over by now, but it didn't help either that this time, she sat in the desk located in the middle of the lovebirds. _I feel mildly nauseated,_ Harper thought as the couple couldn't stop staring at each other. She tried to ignore them by writing down what the teacher was saying in her notebook, but it didn't help much. They had been gazing at each other the entire class.

"I swear to you both, if you blink neither of you will disappear into smoke" Harper hissed lowly to Stefan, who's eyes widened and finally snapped out of his gaze. This got Tanner's attention, and while he did give her a mean glare, his anger shifted towards the lovebirds as well.

"Are we bothering you? Mr. Salvatore? Miss Gilbert?" Elena quickly shook her head as the bell rang for the end of the period. Harper sighed in relief and stood up from her seat to gather up her stuff. She needed to talk to Tyler before going to the library to study.

"Hey Harper, wait up!" Elena said as soon as they stepped out the classroom, interrupting Stefan when he was about to say something. Harper stopped and felt anxious, she really needed to get going.

"Yeah?" She said and looked at Elena, who just sighed and looked at Stefan. The poor guy didn't have a clue of what was about to happen, he had no idea of who this Harper girl was nor her infamous history of being the wallflower.

"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable during class, I know you have a hard time to study" Harper didn't know if it was an apology or not, because her tone sounded so shallow that it was hard to register.

"It's fine, I will just move to another seat next time" Harper stated and walked away, feeling irritated by the popular girls remark. Was it really that obvious that she struggled during class?

Outside was hot for a late summer afternoon, every student was out on the courtyard hanging out. And of course Tyler Lockwood just had to be by the football field with the rest of his popular friends. Harper felt like a knot was twisting around in her stomach as she got closer to them. Her grip on her back was so tight that her knuckles were almost white. Tyler spotted her and waved her over, this caused his friends to become curious about her.

"Tyler I-" Harper had no time to finish talking before Jeremy Gilbert came stomping towards them.

"Hey Tyler!" The young boy looked furious. "Sorry to interrupt, I was just wondering how Vicki is doing since you guys are so close. Is she okay?" Obviously he wanted to prove himself as the better man between the two. Harper knew Jeremy was doing drugs and had been doing them all summer together with Vicki.

"She's fine, so get out of here" Tyler said and looked Jeremy up and down. He could probably take him, but no one wanted them to fight.

"How bad is she, do they who what attacked her, is she gonna make full recovery?" Jeremy wanted Tyler to explode in guilt. Even though Tyler and Vicki wasn't together, it was as if Jeremy knew something else that made him really angry.

"Shut up man, or I am going to kick your ass" Tyler stated and took a step forward. Harper was fast to move and grab Tyler's arm, much to the onlookers suspicion. The girls who had just a minute ago been talking to him never realised how close he was getting to his new foster sister.

"Tyler-" Harper gave him a look that screamed, 'Walk away'. They both knew what would happen if found out about any of them misbehaved in school.

"Harper stay out of this" Tyler grunted and shook her hand away from his arm.

"You keep saying that but when are you actually do it" Jeremy kept on going.

"Walk away Gilbert, it's your final warning" Tyler stated and looked Jeremy deep in the eye. He just wanted to let the whole thing go, if the pill pusher wanted Vicki he could have her. He was not ready for anything that Vicki wanted anyways.

"No this is your final warning dick, I'm sick of watching you play Vicki and I swear if you hurt her one more time I will kill you" Harper wanted to know what that meant. Had Tyler hurt Vicki? She knew he had his problems, but hurting someone was not his M.O. and Jeremy was clearly looking for a fight.

"Damn, that was like a death threat.. from a mouse to a cat" Harper muttered and looked at Tyler who chuckled. Jeremy rolled his eyes and walked away.

"What were you about to say before Opie came here" Tyler asked and turned towards Harper. She nervously looked around at his friends, some she recognized from the bonfire, others not.

"Just that I am going to the library, so I wondered if you could pick me up later" Harper said in a low voice, not wanting the others to hear her.

"Sure thing" Tyler nodded and with that Harper started to go towards the street.

"Bye Harper" She quickly looked over her shoulder to see one of the girls, the same cheerleader who had given her the redbull at the party yesterday, waving at her. Not knowing what to do she just waved and speeded up her walking. And while turning a sharp corner from the school, Harper once again bumped into someone.

"We have to stop meeting like this, I'm starting to bruise" Matt Donovan chuckled as he held a hand on his shoulder. Harper wanted to run away from the situation, it was way too embarrassing to face him again.

"S-sorry" Harper said and looked down on her old tattered shoes.

"I was joking" Matt sighed and looked at Harper. Once again was she dressed in her own style of clothing, a green summer dress that had yellow flowers on it, with a lot of different necklaces on display. Her dark hair was up in a ponytail and the strands that couldn't be held up was kept at bay with metal bumblebee and star hair clips.

"Are you hurt?" He added as he realised that a rather awkward silence had fallen between them.

"No.. just.. have a headache" Harper stated and shrugged. She was gripping her shoulder bag tightly and refused to meet his eye.

"Oh, did you drink last night?" Matt asked, not knowing if Harper had been drinking all along when they had been talking.

"The situation was like a big throwback.. so yeah" _Shit, I'm such an asshole_ , Matt thought as he realised that Harper had been sober up until she had disappeared after they had found Vicki.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Henry had been a very popular girl that everyone just seemed to gravitate towards. And because she had such a spotlight on her, Harper lived in the shadows. Now that the light was gone, the shadows started to disappear as well.

"It's fine.. I'm just happy that Vicki made it" Harper said and smiled, Vicki meant a lot to Matt and she did not deserve to be attacked like that.

"I'm going to her now actually, do you want to come with me? You worked with her after all" Matt asked, not wanting to go to Vicki alone again. Seeing a sober friend would maybe help his sister feel better too.

"Sure" Harper said, forgetting about the library in general. She had no idea of what kind of emotions stirred in her gut when she was around Matt Donovan, but the only way to finding out was being with him. Even when he was going to the hospital to meet his sister.


End file.
